About this book

There are more crows now than ever. Their abundance is both an indicator of ecological imbalance and a generous opportunity to connect with the animal world. Crow Planet reminds us that we do not need to head to faraway places to encounter 'nature'. Rather, even in the suburbs and cities where we live we are surrounded by wild life such as crows, and through observing them we can enhance our appreciation of the world's natural order. Crow Planet richly weaves Haupt's own 'crow stories' as well as scientific and scholarly research and the history and mythology of crows, culminating in a book that is sure to make readers see the world around them in a very different way.

"A completely charming and informative book on the pleasures of keeping one's eyes open."– David Sedaris

"In a lyrical narrative that blends science and conscience, Haupt mourns the encroachments of urbanization, but cherishes the wildness that survives."– Liesl Schillinger, New York Times

"With her sensitivity, careful eye and gift for language, Haupt tells her tale beautifully [...] immersing us in a heady hybrid of science, history, how-to and memoir."– Erika Schickel, Los Angeles Times

"A personal book, one that uses [Haupt] and her fondness for crows to cast its interests toward large concepts such as conservation, the environment, and learning to live more thoughtfully."– Irene Wanner, Seattle Times

"If you live in a city and want to expand your awareness of the natural world, Crow Planet would be a compelling and inspirational book. If you love or hate or are mystified by crows, it is an essential one."– Joseph Bednarik, The Oregonian

"A delightful meditation on our role in the natural world [...] [Haupt] provides a rich context for exploring the relationship between humans and nature."– Diana Hartle, Library Journal, Starred review

"Haupt writes gracefully about the interactions between crows and humans in the urban landscape and what those interactions portend for the future of the zoopolis. A fresh take on conscious living in the everyday world."– Kirkus Reviews

"Haupt enlivens her observations with tidbits from crow mythology and history [and] succeeds in humanizing the object of her naturalist obsession and affection."– Publishers Weekly

"Gently provocative."– Deborah Blum, New Scientist

"Haupt takes a philosophical look at her own backyard investigation of a crow's life and challenges the view that an urban existence is detached from wilderness, while exemplifying the joy that can come with nurturing a curiosity with a raucous little bird."– Seed

"Lyanda Haupt has spun the natural life of neighborhoods, and most poignantly the surpassing intelligence of crows, into the kind of gold only the most gifted writer and naturalist could fashion. Crow Planet is a small treasure, a conversion experience of truth, wit, and re-enchantment that remakes the world and our place within it."– Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest and Natural Capitalism

"The fiction (sometimes the hope!) that you can escape from nature by living in the city is as sad as it is widespread. This book will remind you to open your eyes to the mundane – it will make the city a far richer place for you."– Bill McKibben, author of The Bill McKibben Reader

"Haupt captures crows wonderfully in elegant prose and weaves a thoughtful tale that connects them from St. Benedict's philosophy of lecti divina of 480 CE to our growing awareness of our kinship to, and dependence on, the rest of life."– Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven

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Biography

Lyanda Lynn Haupt has created and directed educational programs for Seattle Audubon, worked in raptor rehabilitation in Vermont, and as a seabird researcher for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the remote tropical Pacific. She is the author of Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent.